Odyssey 2 restaurant coming to St. Charles

A couple of weeks ago we speculated that a vacant St. Charles restaurant location would stick with its Greek theme when a new owner took over.

The vacant Dimitri's Restaurant on the east side of St. Charles will soon house another Greek eatery - and it sounds like "soon" could be as early as next week.

Wickman Development reported late last week that Odyssey 2 will open in the 3755 E. Main St. location. Owner Panagis Pashos brings a restaurant to St. Charles that will be similar to his successful Lombard location.

"I've been to the Lombard restaurant a few times and in addition to the Greek food, it offers the American basics, too," said Eric Wickman. "Some of the things that impressed me about the Lombard location were the fast service and the quality of the food.

"He (Pashos) takes pride in the freshness of the food," Wickman added. "The braised lamb practically melted off the bone."

Wickman is certain that those who go to Odyssey 2 will be pleased with the prices and the menu offerings, especially an economic "express lunch" for those in a hurry.

Money on our minds: In closing 2008, let's reflect some more on what we talked about in "Talk of the Town" the past year.

With the cost of everything skyrocketing and our paychecks dwindling, money was on our minds.

The nuts and bolts of area referendums weren't examined heavily in this column, but their effect on everything else was mentioned.

Batavians told the park district to rethink its idea for a new recreation center and a facelift of Quarry Pool, and Geneva school officials wisely backed off a school expansion plan until the economy is more stable. St. Charles schools are debating an overhaul of several school buildings and hearing from not-so-shy residents who feel common sense should be the guide in holding off for now.

A friend leaves us: We said goodbye to a former colleague and community columnist who passed away. Janet Rossi of St. Charles also was a well-known pianist in church and community concerts.

Some dancing fools: Geneva's State Street Dance Studio had television airtime on WGN-TV when roving reporter Ana Belaval stopped in to report on lessons and programs offered at the studio. Later in the year, dancers from the studio turned up on Channel 7 to promote "The Nutcracker."

Matt Rodewald, a 1998 Geneva High School graduate who can now be seen on NBC-TV morning news shows delivering traffic reports, got himself involved in a dance competition against a traffic reporter from Cincinnati. He said that the mention in my column helped him garner some extra votes.

Rodewald wasn't the only dancing fool. The Geneva Cultural Arts Commission convinced six Geneva "celebrity" couples to take part in a Dancing with the Geneva Stars competition set for Feb. 7 at Eagle Brook Country Club. And, as many of you already know, my wife and I are part of that mix.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to "Talk of the Town" this year and use the e-mail address below to continue to do so: dheun@sbcglobal.net